We persecute no man, neither will we abet in the persecution of any man for religion's sake; our common relation to others being that of fellow-citizens and fellow-subjects of one single community; and in this line of connection we hold out the right hand of fellowship to all men.
Thomas Paine: “We persecute no man, neither will we abet in the persecution of any man for religion's sake; our common relation to…”
Editor's note · Context
From a public address during the American Revolution, this passage declares a commitment to religious freedom and civic fellowship.
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The Parliaments on their part insisted that they had not only a right to remonstrate, but to reject; and on this ground they were always supported by the nation.
It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting as his own.
The meaning, then, good people, of all this, is: That government is governed by no principle whatever; that it can make evil good, or good evil, just as it pleases.
He writes neither in the character of a Frenchman nor an Englishman, but in the fawning character of that creature known in all countries, and a friend to none--a courtier.